Of course your workforce is human, but what about your workplace practices? Respectful treatment of all employees was the number one contributor to overall employee job satisfaction in the latest SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey. This is the second year respect was at the top.

Although employees do rank pay and benefits as the second and third most important aspect, they consider culture and connection to be of utmost importance. To support this theory, results from a new study by the WorkHuman Research Institute at Globoforce show that as companies begin to focus on building a more human workplace, employees are responding with enthusiasm, trust, and optimism.

When leaders care about workplace humanity, it has a strong impact of employee well-being and important metrics such as employee engagement and loyalty. But when only 63 percent of employees believe company leaders care about and actively try to create a workplace focused on employee well-being, how can leaders show they care?

Recognize employees. A strong recognition program can make a big difference. Employees that were recognized in the last six months were more than twice as likely to believe leadership cares.

Listen to employees. When employees feel like their opinions, voice, and ideas matter, they are 43 percent more likely to believe leaders care.Be transparent. Employees who feel their employer is open and transparent with information are 50 percent more likely to agree their leaders care about creating a human workplace.

Provide development opportunities. Learning and development have long been reported as influential to employee engagement and satisfaction.

Promote gratitude. Gratitude has been shown to have a number of positive impacts on individual well-being and relationship building. The opportunity to feel grateful can impact perceptions of culture.

Show appreciation. As a counterpoint to gratitude and a complement to recognition, employees who feel appreciated for the work they do are 47 percent more likely to believe leadership cares.

Have fun. Fun is an obvious contributor to culture. When employees feel their company culture is fun and enjoyable, they are 54 percent more likely to agree that leaders care about a human workplace.

Be respectful. Respect is a key contributor on most “best place to work” indexes and is important to both well-being and connection.

When employers focus on frequent, values-based recognition, they make a direct impact on engagement, positivity, motivation, and happiness. The result is a unified, human work culture that gives employers a competitive edge to be successful in today’s evolving business climate.